November 23rd, 2015: Marist at St. John's

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Aliyyah Handford had 19 points and eight rebounds, and Danaejah Grant 17 points and eight boards, as St. John's pulled away from Marist early, 61-47. Jade Walker added 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Sydney Coffey led the Red Foxes with 16 points, while Tori Jarosz notched a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

For traveling in the dark of the night, blocked shots, illusory Girl Scouts, bringin' the noise, traveling fans, kicked balls, a lack of discipline, and weak contest shooting, join your intrepid and culinary blogger after the jump. (Want some apple pie?)



Good evening, boys and girls! Your intrepid blogger is back in her usual perch at Carnesecca Arena, holding down the fort in Section 2 with Mr. Noisy himself, as St. John's finally comes home to face mMarist.

I don't know whose idea it was to have this game at 7 PM on a Sunday night, but I would like to have words with them. They will not be nice words. I would also like to have words with whoever designated a 7 PM game on a Sunday night as "Girl Scout Day". That's not how this works.

Can I be weirded out by how pale Marist is? Even the non-Caucasian players are on the light side. It's very discomfiting (not to mention you get awkward contrast with unfortunate implications, given that 9 out of 11 Johnnies are various shades of medium to dark brown). (Look, there's no diplomatic way to state this observation without getting into people's self-identification. Would you prefer "one team looks like my mom's coffee and the other is closer to my dad's"?)

Danaejah Grant is running around without her jersey on. It would be somewhat more scandalous if she didn't have a shirt on.

Marist, stop trying to sit behind our bench. Okay, it's just one guy and his daughter, but don't sit behind the opposing bench, it's not polite.

At halftime, St. John's is up 34-24. Aliyyah Handford continues to be all Matrix-y in the paint. Jade Walker's hook shot is falling, and Marist is something like seven-of-a-thousand from the field. The officials are calling procedural things pretty tightly- lots of travels, lots of three-second calls. They did manage to miss a change of possession arrow, which has so far been to the Red Storm's advantage.

It might be Girl Scout Day, but so far the only Girl Scout I've seen here is me. I think they got their promotions crossed up.

That was easier than I was expecting. I was expecting more of a fight from Marist, but this is not the Marist that once terrorized the MAAC and slew Ohio State. I know it's early in the season, and I know Marist has a lot of new faces, but I still expect more disciplined play out of the Red Foxes. They were sloppy even in warm-ups, and the mental lapses continued into the game.

Eileen Van Horn looked to have had a laundry malfunction with her uniform- the white numbers appeared more of a pale pink. Claire Oberdorf had no name on her jersey, the only Marist player to lack it, and we joked about her having to earn it by her play on the court, as if some sort of cruel rite of passage. She was aggressive after the ball. Casey Davidson was last off the bench. Maura Fitzpatrick left no impression other than a dark ponytail.

Kendall Baab came in in relief of Tori Jarosz when Jarosz got into foul trouble. She scored her points fairly late in the game. Morgan Bartner provided some spot minutes as well.

Rebecka Garderyd seemed to be splitting time between point guard and off guard, running the offense when more deliberation was required. Allie Clement started off shooting badly, but finished with a couple of corner threes and one very nice drive down the lane. Sydney Coffey was the big offensive star, but even then, her drives down the lane lacked a certain technical soundness- she threw the ball at the basket with no sense of form.

Lovísa Henningsdottir looked lost on the court- I think she's still adapting to the defense. Tori Jarosz showed flashes of her offensive skill set, but was more effective on defense. She shut down a lot of shots and defended the paint well. Foul trouble put her on the bench for stretches. I think this game might have shown the difference between the MAAC and the Big East, at least in terms of size.

Hey! Freshmen! They do exist! Jordan Agustus and her goggles came in late in the game. She committed a dumb foul, but more than made up for it with a pretty move in the lane. Akina Wellere still needs to get her feet under her, in terms of defensive signals and familiarity with her teammates and system, but I think she's going to adapt quickly and fit in well. Now, if only her outside shot would start falling...

Tamesha Alexander ran point for a while in the second half, unremarkably. I love her feistiness, though. She was going up against way bigger players for rebounds. Crystal Simmons came in for Aliyyah Handford for stretches, and everyone really wanted her to get a basket. I think it might be smarter for her to focus on her defense- I can see her getting more bench minutes that way, filling a role like that instead of trying to add yet more backcourt offense. Jade Walker looked really good scoring in the paint- she's been working on her hook shot, and it shows. She still has the outside jumper, but if she can consistently add down-low scoring, we'll be a more balanced and more dangerous team. (And if she can avoid committing stupid fouls.) She started the second half over Sandra Udobi.

Imani Littleton doesn’t seem to have found her feet yet, though I'm not sure how much is being run for her. She's third option at best, fourth if Jade is in the game. I'd still like to see her be more attentive on defense. Sandra Udobi has lost whatever mobility she had after the knee injuries. If she can get position in the post on offense she's still a lot to handle for the opponent, but she can't move on defense, and that makes me sad.

Aaliyah Lewis appears to be trying to be our three-point threat, with no success so far. I do love watching a point guard grow into her own and become a floor leader. Tiny but fierce! Danaejah Grant had the jumper working. Aliyyah Handford showed off her Matrix moves- she's just so smooth and so flexible. You can't blink when you're looking at her, or you'll miss something. She did get caught gambling on defense a couple of times, flying out for the steal and very much not getting it. That's something she has to be more careful about.

In the third quarter, St. John's broke out a press, and it was very effective. I'd love to see more of that.

We figured it was a bad sign for the officiating when we saw an Enterline, but he actually didn't make any calls we objected to. Angela Lewis was the one making calls that seemed questionable and enforcing three-seconds with an iron fist.

So many kicked balls. I feel like Marist may have forgotten what sport they were playing?

I don't know what this proves for St. John's, or if it proves anything other than the athletic department's inability to understand how clocks work. I don't know what this says about Marist either- it may be too early to tell, or we may be watching the decline of one of the great mid-major dynasties.